Netherlands 4 defeated Argentina 1
Goals: Netherlands – Karel Klaver 6m, Matthijs Brouwer 9m 49m, Teun de Nooijer 68m; Argentina - Mathias Vila 12m
Matthijs Brouwer's double helped Roelant Oltmans record his first win back in charge of the Netherlands men’s team on home soil with a 4-1 defeat of Argentina in Tilburg last night.
The Netherlands controlled the scoreboard but had to repel the Argentine penalty corner battery as Matthijs Brouwer’s double and one each to Karel Klaver and Teun de Nooijer secured an impressive victory.
The Dutch began strongly with Klaver converting after six minutes for a 1-0 lead. The goal finished a flowing move from debutante Sebastiaan Westerhout and Floris Evers. Three minutes later, the Netherlands increased their lead through the Den Bosch combination of Brouwer and Jeroen Delmee - Brouwer tapping in his teammate’s pass for open a significant advantage for the home team.
Soon after, de Nooijer had the chance to give the Netherlands an unassailable three-goal lead, but the ball just missed from the top edge of the circle.
Argentina grabbed a goal back in the 12th minute when Tilburg import Matias Vilas converted and the 2-1 score line remained until half time.
After the break, Argentina had two penalty corner opportunities but couldn’t find the equaliser. Then Vilas wasted a great chance when he missed an open goal.
Brouwer punished Argentina’s inability to convert a higher percentage of their six penalty corners and sealed the match in the 49th minute with his second goal before de Nooijer celebrated his 29th birthday with a goal near full time.
